The present invention is directed to a method and an associated apparatus that enables the conversion or reconditioning of an existing vending machine to handle items contained in alternatively sized packages. More specifically, the invention relates to the conversion of a can-type beverage vending machine to enable the machine to dispense newer bottled beverages.
As is well known in the vending industry, vending machines, and particularly beverage vending machines, must dispense the product that is desired and available from distributors in order to sell product. Hence, when newer packaging such as 16- or 20-ounce bottles is made available for beverage vending machines, customers of vending equipment expect to be able to purchase such products. However, it is generally the case that in order to provide for the sale of the newer packaged products, the machines used to dispense predecessor products (e.g. 12-ounce cans) must be replaced. Moreover, the replacement of the older style machines, while still functional, results in numerous older machines needing to be recycled and scrapped. The recycling and scrapping of such machines is also not without cost as there are components (e.g., refrigerants) that must be properly recovered and disposed of before the machines can be scrapped for the metal.
Realizing the opportunity to utilize fully functional, yet obsolete, vending machines, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus that enables beverage can dispensing machines (e.g., 12-ounce cans) to be reconditioned, with only few reworked components, and placed in service for the dispensing of 16- or 20-ounce bottled beverages. It is believed that the present invention is a cost-effective manner of dealing with functional machines that will be displaced by newer machines, or a way for some vending machine owners to upgrade machines without the cost of purchasing new machines designed specifically for 16- or 20-ounce bottle dispensing. Furthermore, by eliminating the need to recover/scrap the components of the displaced machines, the present invention is believed to further reduce costs to those who own and operate vending equipment.
Heretofore, the following publication has disclosed aspects of a vending machine, the relevant portions of which may be briefly summarized as follows:
“Dixie-Narco Parts List; Most Ranson Built Models Made During the 1980's”, No. 903901960.01, (Dec. 1, 1987), hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference, teaches various components and parts in a can vending machine, including cabinet and vend mechanisms to which aspects of the present invention are directed.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a beverage vending machine for dispensing beverages in containers, comprising: a housing including an upper interior cabinet and a lower interior cabinet, wherein the upper interior cabinet may be refrigerated; a main door hingedly attached to said housing, the main door having a main door assembly therein for advertising the beverages, the main door assembly also including a plurality of user-activated switches for beverage selection in conjunction with the receipt of money inserted into the machine; said upper interior cabinet having a vend mechanism inserted therein, where said vend mechanism includes a plurality of racks positioned so as to allow the insertion of at least a stack of 16- or 20-ounce bottles therein, and an automated vending assembly for dispensing bottles from the bottom of said stack, in response to the user's selection, into a chute for delivery through the main door of the machine; and wherein the vend mechanism includes a plurality of spaced apart vertical side members defining the racks, said vertical side members being spaced in accordance with predefined spacing on a plurality of horizontal members, said spacing being defined as a function of the size of the containers and the inside width of the upper interior cabinet.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a beverage container vending machine conversion kit, for converting a can vending machine having a housing including an upper interior cabinet and a lower interior cabinet, wherein the upper interior cabinet may be refrigerated, a main door with a plurality of user-activated switches for beverage selection in conjunction with the receipt of money inserted into the machine, where the upper interior cabinet has a vend mechanism inserted therein and includes a plurality of vertical side members positioned so as to allow the insertion of cans for dispensing from the bottom of a stack into a chute in response to a user's selection, comprising: a front offset plate; a rear offset plate; a Z-shaped rear plate; a U-shaped front cutout bracket; and a U-shaped sensor bracket, wherein each of said components includes pre-drilled holes for aligning the plurality of vertical supports in a spaced-apart manner at a distance defined as a function of the size of bottles to be inserted therein and the inside width of the upper interior cabinet.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for converting a beverage can vending machine to a bottle vending machine, comprising the steps of: opening the front door of the vending machine to reveal an upper interior cabinet and removing a welded gate assembly from a vend mechanism and a can rack therein; removing all covers from vend motors and sold out switches within the can rack, and removing a chute assembly from the vend mechanism; disconnecting wires from vend motors and sold out switches and tuck the wires out of the way in a lower cabinet; removing the vend motors and setting them aside; removing rear can supports from the can rack; removing bolts that hold a can rack within the upper interior cabinet; removing the can rack from the upper interior cabinet by sliding it forward and lifting it out of the upper interior cabinet; disassembling the can rack; removing can shims from the can rack and any associated shim holders; drilling out all rivets in narrow column gate assembly within the can rack and removing all sold out paddle assemblies at each can rack column and all rotors and oscillators; drilling out all rivets that hold the can rack assembly together and setting the vertical supports aside; taking at least one vertical support in the can rack assembly and removing the sheet metal assembly riveted to the front of the vertical support; folding the front edge of the vertical support down with a heavy-duty sheet metal brake, to match other narrow column supports; placing the modified vertical support back with the other vertical supports; using fasteners fastening a U-shaped front bracket and Z-shaped rear plate into place to hold bottom comers of the vertical supports, and fastening a front offset plate and a rear offset plate into place to hold top corners of the vertical supports to create a bottle rack; removing springs, switches and paddle switch assembly from an old bracket and reinstalling the same on a U-shaped sold-out sensor bracket; installing the U-shaped sold-out sensor bracket on the bottle rack at a position near the bottom of the bottle rack; installing the rotors and oscillators into the bottle rack; reinstalling the bottle rack into the upper interior cabinet; reinstalling the vend motors and hooking up wires (previously removed) for vend motors and sold out switches; reinstalling the chute assembly; removing any obstruction to bottle being vended through the front door, and flipping over discharge member so half moon cut out is on top.
One aspect of the invention deals with a basic problem in the refurbishing, recycling and disposal of vending equipment—the need to frequently update or replace such equipment when product packaging is changed or modified (e.g., size or shape of packaging such as a change from 12-ounce cans to 16- or 20-ounce bottles). This aspect is further based on the discovery of a technique that alleviates this problem. The technique utilizes the essential components of an existing machine, modifying only a few parts, so as to allow a beverage vending machine to be changed from can to bottle vending with only a reasonable amount of effort. In this way, vendors are able to have their machines refurbished rather than having to replace the old machines with costly new machines.
The techniques and aspects of the invention described herein are advantageous because they are both straightforward and inexpensive compared to other approaches, and make it unnecessary to completely scrap older yet functional vending machines. As a result of the invention, conventional can vending machines may be easily modified to allow the machines to vend newer, larger bottles—thereby saving the vendor from the expense of having to replace can vending machines.